2 January 1955
Syracuse Herald American- Nationals Second Half Spurt Downs Boston, 108-10 5,123 See Victory At Memorial; Hawks Play Here Tonight A brilliant 12-point scoring spree by Dolph Schayes in the final period led the Syracuse Nationals past the Boston Celtics before 5,123 fans in the War Memorial last night. The Nats won, 108-102, and it marked the third straight victory for Syracuse over Boston in which both teams have scored more than 100 points. tonight the Nats host the Milwaukee Hawks with the two freshman scoring sensations, Frank Selvy< and Bob Pettit, in the lineup for Red Holzman’s Hawks. The Nats trailed at the close of every period except the important one and they went into the last period down six points, 85-79. Schayes hit on three set shots, and two layup baskets, one on a spectacular pass from Paul Seymour. Seymour led the assist department with 12. Schayes was top point man for the Nats with 25 points on eight baskets and three free throws. Five other Nats were in double figures. Earl Lloyd had 18, 11 of them in the third period, Dick Farley, 13; Billy Kenville, 13; Red Rocha, 10; and Seymour, 10. The offensive star for the Celts was rookie Frank Ramsey who had a .500 shooting percentage for the night sinking eight baskets in 16 attempts and winding up the night with a 26-point total. Trailing Ramsey was Easy Ed Macauley with 25 and Bill Sharman with 10. The Celts lost two men via the personal foul route, Sharman and Don Barksdale, while the Nats didn’t have any casualties. The fact that Schayes played almost all of the final period with five personals scored against him made his 12-point total all the more remarkable. The Celtics enjoyed an edge through most of the game and it was due principally to a phenomenal shooting average. Through the first half they were at the .500 mark from the floor. Boston had 34 of 75 attempts for a .453 average and the Nats were 36 for 90 and a .400 shooting average in the entire game. The Nats trailed at various stages of the game by as many as 10 points and through most of the first half they were unable to get closer than seven points to the Celtics. Individual spurts, one by Farley in the second quarter when the Nats established a new high for quarter scoring with 38 points, Lloyd in the third period and Schayes in the final quarter enabled Syracuse to stay within reach of the Celtics. The game established another sort of record, one that always is in jeopardy when the Nats and Celtics meet, when 63 personals were called. In the first game of the season there were 47 called and the last time they met the referees called 56. In addition to his 18 points Lloyd accounted for 12 of Syracuse’s 45 rebounds and Macauley grabbed 13 of Boston’s 54. Ramsey and Macauley missed only once from the free throw line with the ex-Kentucky star getting 10 of 11 and Macauley hitting nine of 10. Poor shooting from the floor in the first period put the Nats at a disadvantage and they trailed by seven 27-20, at the whistle. The Celtics proved to be adept from the floor in the first period with 10 for 20. They carried it through the half and walked off at halftime with a one point 59-58 bulge due to a 19 for 38 or 50 percent average. The combined scored at halftime, 59-58, or a total of 117 topped previous high for 30 minutes of play by eight points. The former high of 109 was set Jan. 31 a year ago when the Nats led New York, 60-49. Two freshman sparked the play in the first half, Kentucky grad Frank Ramsey had five field goals and eight free throws for 18 points and chipped in with a particularly fine all around game. Dick Farley entered the game just prior to the start of the second period and put the Nats back in contention with six quick points on two fielders and two free throws for 10 points at the end of the half. Top Nat scorer in the half was Schayes with four buckets and seven from the free throw line for 13. Incessant whistle tooting slowed down play during the second period. The officials called 21 in the second quarter. One enthusiastic fan had cut out large hatchets and when Bob Brannum entered the game he liberally sprinkled the court with the hatchets. Carrier shaded St. Bernard’s in the preliminary 44-42. SYRACUSE: Schayes (8-9-25), Rocha (4-2-10), Simmons (2-0-4), Lloyd (8-2-18), Kerr (2-1-5), Seymour (2-6-10), King (2-4-8), Kenville (3-7-13), Farley (5-5-15) TOTALS (36-36-108). BOSTON: Ramsey (8-10-26), Brannum (2-1-5), Barksdale (4-0-8), Morrison (2-3-7), Macauley (8-9-25), Nichols (3-2-8), Cousy (1-1-3), Sharman (3-4-10), Palazzi (0-2-2), Scolari (3-2-8) TOTALS (34-34-102). Score at halftime- Boston 59, Syracuse 58. ---- From Scanning The Sports Field With Frank Woolever, Sport Editor Dempsey Wanted To Be A Nat An interesting yarn concerning the latest rookie to hit the spotlight in the National Professional Basketball Association was passed along by Tommy Coolican. It concerns George Dempsey, the fair-haired boy with the Philadelphia Warriors fans, who wanted to become a Syracuse Nats performer. In fact, only last spring sharpshooting George had a conference with pilot Al Cervi concerning local court employment. But let’s start from the beginning: Dempsey and Coolican, a native Syracusan, were pals at Bainbridge Naval Station where Dempsey starred as a hoopster. Coolican, impressed with his ability, contacted Nats officials and Dempsey met with Al Cervi prior to a game in Philadelphia. The Syracuse manager learned Dempsey was carried on the military reserve list of the Philadelphia Warriors, and as such could not be signed by the Nats. Before going to Bainbridge, Dempsey had played with the Philadelphia Sphas on a tour against the Harlem Globetrotters and it was then that Ed Gottlieb of the Warriors obtained his services. He played college ball at King’s College in Delaware where in two seasons he tallied 1,316 points. as a sophomore he was fourth highest scorer in the nation’s small college group with 704 points in 25 starts. His 28.2 points per game was second only to that of the Nats’ George King then enrolled at Morris Harvey. Coolican said Dempsey had been a ministry student until his call to service. At Bainbridge he set an individual game scoring record of 38 points against Norfolk Naval and finished his first season with 775 points in 37 games. Last year he captained the team which also included Ernie Beck of Penn. Beck is still at Bainbridge. Last summer Dempsey was a member of the touring All-Star aggregation which opposed the Globetrotters in a series of outdoor games, and he had been with the Sphas until last week. Then came the call for Dempsey to replace Ronnie Costello of Minoa who was ordered into military service. George appears ready for top billing in the big show. Category:1954-55 Category:Nationals Category:January 2 Category:Beck Category:Cervi Category:Costello Category:Dempsey Category:Farley Category:Kenville Category:Kerr Category:King Category:Lloyd Category:Palazzi Category:Rocha Category:Schayes Category:Scolari Category:Selvy Category:Seymour Category:Simmons